Like Miles Killebrew, the Pittsburgh Steelers are right where we are: sitting at home being mad. Although they managed to make the playoffs in 2023, they lost in the first round. It has now been seven years without a postseason victory, the longest drought in franchise history. The question is what to do next.
The first step is always taking stock of what happened and what is left. That’s part of the exit meeting process, in which coaches meet with each player. They discuss the season and their expectations moving forward—and potentially their role within it.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2023 season.
Player: Miles Killebrew
Position: Safety
Experience: 8 Years
Let’s not kid ourselves here—we all know that Miles Killebrew is here to play on special teams, not defense. Yes, he’s nominally a safety, and sometimes he even ends up with a role there due to injuries. But he made the first-team All-Pro team in 2023 for his special teams contributions, not anything he managed defensively.
With that said, he actually saw more playing time on defense last year than he has since his early days. Killebrew logged 111 defensive snaps, his most since 2017 with the Detroit Lions. In his first two seasons in Pittsburgh combined, he managed just 57 defensive snaps.
In contrast, he played 319 special teams snaps last season, 944 in total over his three years here. Over the course of his entire career, he’s played 2,573 special teams snaps against 757 on defense. And that is why the Steelers had no problem paying up to keep him around.
They signed him to a new two-year, $6.5 million contract, which is certainly at or near the top of the special teams market, continuing a trend of the Steelers paying their top special teamers. They re-signed him to a two-year, $4 million contract in 2022, so he’ll make $10.5 million in a four-year period.
Fortunately, he’s good at what he does. I don’t know that anybody in the world loves special teams more than Killebrew. Perhaps the only person capable of giving him a run for his money is his coach, Danny Smith. In fact, I could see Killebrew becoming the Steelers special teams coordinator one day, now that I think about it.
Killebrew turns 31 in May, so he’s getting up there, but the Steelers are confident he can deliver over the next two years. If he keeps getting his hands on punts, or influencing punts with his pressure, they’ll keep paying him.
